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September 20, 2013

A three-year-old boy is among 13 people who were shot after gunmen opened fire on a Chicago park on Thursday night. Shots rang out around 10.15pm and appeared to target a basketball court on the 51st Street side of Cornell Square Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, The Chicago Tribune reported.

The boy, identified as Deonte Howard and known to his family as ‘Tay-man’, was shot in the jaw as he sat with his mother and was rushed to hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Twelve others – three females and nine males between the ages of 15 and 41 – were shot and emergency crews rushed them to hospitals. One of the victims was able to drive himself to hospital. Their injuries include gunshot wounds to the foot, buttocks, abdomen and back.

Police said they believed the shooting was gang related. Julian Harris, 22, told the Chicago Sun-Times that dread locked gunmen driving in a gray sedan fired at him at the corner of Wood St and 51st before turning north and shooting up the park. Harris said the three-year-old victim was his nephew, Deonte ‘Tay-man’ Howard. Deonte was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

‘They hit the light pole next to me but I ducked down and ran into the house,’ Harris said. ‘They’ve been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night — just gang-banging stuff. It’s what they do.’ Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church on the South Side, told the Sun-Times that the bullet passed through Deonta’s face, but did not cause brain damage. Continue Reading